ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Mexican drug lord Juan “El Chapo” Guzman is now in one of the most secure prisons in the U.S. after he was extradited to the U.S. late Thursday.
Guzman, who is a leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel, is accused of running a “criminal enterprise responsible for importing into the United States and distributing massive amounts of illegal narcotics and for conspiring to murder people who posed a threat to the narcotics enterprise,” according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Officials allege Guzman committed crimes involving drug trafficking spanning over three decades. Robert Capers, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said Friday that Guzman led a “life of crime, violence, death and destruction” and continued to grow his drug empire during his time in prison.
Guzman has escaped from prison twice; once in 2001 and a second time in 2015. He was recaptured in January 2016 and is now behind bars at New York City’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, which has housed mobster John Gotti and associates of Osama Bin Laden.
On Friday he pleaded not guilty to the 17-count indictment and is expected back in court next month.
ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.